


A Show Of Affection

by catnip



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, M/M, just some good vibes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-25 21:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16206221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catnip/pseuds/catnip
Summary: Touch based prompts featuring Caleb and (most of) the Mighty Nein. Short, and hopefully, sweet.





	1. High Fives (Beau & Caleb)

**Author's Note:**

> So many, many........so many months ago I came across [this list of prompts](http://servantofclio.tumblr.com/post/160597000881/touch-prompts) centered around touch. My original idea was to write one for each of them, I had it all planned out, and well... you know how plans go! Most of these I did all those months ago, it was a final one or two I had to bear wrestle into submission to get enough of a something that I was happy to go ahead and post. Who knows, I might go back to the others someday (I had like 3 ideas for dance alone, oh man) but for now. Here it is! 
> 
> Caleb, love that boy, love others loving him, let's do it. Unbeta'd, mistakes my own, so on and so forth.

“Hells yeah! Up high!”

The creature’s now lifeless body had barely settled on the blood soaked ground before Beau began shouting and turning toward him, arm raised. Caleb blinked, adrenaline and sweat leaving his vision blurring slightly, chest heaving as his lungs tried to settle themselves. He could see a bruise was already beginning to blossom on one of her eyes, and though he was certainly no healer he guessed that the arm still hanging awkwardly at her side was broken somehow. Still, her energy was wild, grin wide and all teeth.

It faltered a bit when she seemed to remember who was standing beside her – she had raced over to keep him from taking a giant clawed mitt to the face – her breathing as ragged as his while her eyes glanced around in hopes of finding someone else.

“Oh, uhh….”

The offered hand started to retreat, but before it could Caleb took a half step forward, reaching out to give her open palm a tap. His arm lingered awkwardly in the air next to hers.

For a moment Beau’s expression froze, eyes almost comically strained as they stared him down. Then that passed as quickly, surprise turning into furrowed brows and a disbelieving frown.

“Really Caleb?”

“What?”

“You call that a high five?” Her tone was pitched with her familiar brand of enthusiastic disapproval. “A grandma could do better. You gotta mean it, man.”

Before he could prepare himself or offer up any kind of rebuttal, her hand came down on his again, the loud smack echoing in the stone room.

“ _Scheiße!_ ”

“Yeah!”

Caleb clenched his hand into a fist, every inch of skin on his palm now tingling unpleasantly. Beau seemed unphased, giving him an approving grin. Caleb found himself returning his own, much subdued, smile. All the monsters around them were now dead. And they’d all managed to avoid a similar fate. Perhaps a bit of permanent nerve damage from an enthusiastic monk was a small price to pay for a bit of celebration.

“Ah, yeah. Woo hoo.”

“Don’t.”

“Yeah, no, you are right.”


	2. Hugs (Nott & Caleb)

Nott didn’t have much up close and personal experience with humans. Excluding the ones who attacked her, that wasn’t the right kind of up close. The worst kind in fact. Despite a lack of experience she felt pretty sure that this particular one was extra weird. She’d thought so from the beginning. 

The first clue had been how he didn’t seem to be afraid of her. Or maybe it was more that at times he seemed to be afraid of most everything, her no more than anything else. Then there was the fact that he was dirtier than most goblins she had known, and skinnier than she thought possible for a human. Wasn’t it easy for his kind to get food? At least compared to what her clan had to do to get by. He also muttered to himself in some language she’d never heard before. Muttered some nights even in his sleep. And then there was that cat.

So yeah. A little weird, in Nott’s view. 

But maybe it was that weirdness that caused him to treat her with kindness and not scorn, so she wasn’t going to judge. Walking at his side through the cover of thick trees barely a day out from their escape, she was rather thankful for it.

“Little friend, I must rest a moment. Just a moment.”

Inwardly, Nott cringed. But on the outside she only nodded, sitting down next to Caleb as he settled himself against the base of a wide tree. Though there was no way she could exactly guess the distance, she knew they hadn’t made as much progress as they should have by now. There was nothing to be done for it, though. Toward the last days of their captivity Nott had insisted on sharing her food with him, but that was hardly anything in the long run, and Caleb was still left with little long term stamina to speak of. She wondered how he had managed up until now. Considering how they met – maybe he hadn’t. 

Truthfully, she wasn’t much better off. Goblins used their numbers to take what they needed. Working alone was much harder, she found. So, they both did the best they could.

Despite the worry in the back of her mind it felt good to rest her feet. And it still felt good to be outside, be free.

“You can carry on yourself, you know.”

Caleb interrupted the companionable silence that had set during their rest, and Nott tilted her head up to look at him. His eyes were still closed.

“Could.”

“You’d certainly cover more ground that way.”

“Maybe.” 

She studied his face. Despite only knowing him for a short time, Nott was slowly learning how to read him. Since he was rare to speak, she decided that you had to look to see what was really going on with him. The corners of his mouth were just the slightest bit drawn, and the pinch of his eyebrows pulled at the faint lines that ran at the corner of his eyes.

“What would you do, then? If I left.”

There was a noise that perhaps coming from someone else might have been a small laugh, but from Caleb it sounded misplaced. “The same thing I have been doing I suppose. Though I hope with less getting caught. I have-” there was a moment of pause and Caleb licked his lips, throat bobbing as he swallowed, “I have been alone a long time now. It is nothing new.”

Nott studied him another moment. The words were meant to be casual, but to her ears, they seemed anything but.

Her posture began to shift before her mind had even fully formed the idea, but even then she didn’t stop herself. It made her uncomfortably aware of her own body. How her arms were just a little too short to fully wrap around his waist. How long her nails were and how carefully she felt she needed to place her fingers to keep them away. She didn’t quite lean into him, just held him, loosely. It strained her back in a strange way and her brain worked wild with how ridiculous this must seem. What a bad idea it surely was. Despite that she kept her grip where it was.

“I’ve been alone a long time too. So I think I’ll wait, if that’s alright with you.”

Under her light touch it felt like he had stopped breathing, leaving her in a moment of panic until she felt his whole body shudder. A near silent rush of air ruffled the very tip of her hood.

“Ja. Okay…..okay.”

She let the hug go on as long as she dared, only a few seconds, before retreating back into her own personal space. Back a bit further than she had been at the start.

“Thank you, Nott.”

“Likewise.”

They rested a few minutes more in quiet, the rustle of leaves and bird song a pleasant song. Then they were off again, Caleb helping Nott to her feet and giving her a pat on the head as they began to walk.


	3. Massages (Jester & Caleb)

“You have to hold still.”

Jester’s voice was sing-song, and had the desired effect as Caleb stilled his fidgeting.

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright.” She gave his back a light tap before moving her hands back to where they were needed, gently pressing and squeezing at his left shoulder to see what exactly she was working with here.

A free day had meant a day of painting for her, and a day of research for him, the two of them working together quietly at a corner table of the inn. He had briefly explained the premise of the papers to her at first; some collection of arcane research essays and theories from blah blah blah, old dead guy, lots of magic. It had sounded incredibly boring to her but she was happy to see him happy. Her own creative juices had been quick to flow after too long away from anything but rough doodles and quick sketches, bolstered by the prime fodder the innkeeper had given her after the rude treatment he’d shown them. He had turned his nose up at them thinking they wouldn’t have the funds to spend the night in his _precious inn_ , and insulted Frumpkin and banned him from the building at the first sight of him – so she was particularly proud of her work portraying a giant Frumpkin eating him whole. 

Her piece of him getting slammed into the ground by a giant fry pan, however, remained unfinished. As time wore on Caleb had become in turns both annoyingly distracting and annoyingly worrisome. The quiet occasional talking to himself as he read and took notes she was used to, but she couldn’t block out the loop of fidgeting he had fallen into. First his arm would rest in his lap, then on the table, then hang by his side. Rinse and repeat. She also did not miss the twitch of a frown his face would make with every change of position. For all she complained about having to keep everyone in one piece sometimes, she still had the shrewd eye of a healer – especially for eternally squishy wizards – so this she found too hard to ignore. 

At first he had brushed her questioning off, stating he was fine. Then he had conceded that yes his shoulder hurt, but it was a very old injury and nothing that her magic could help him with. But Jester knew there was more than one way to help hurts. It had taken her sweetest voice and best doe eyes to convince him to let her take a closer look, but finally he relented, and so they found themselves here. Caleb seated on her bed with his coat draped over crossed legged while she kneeled behind him.

Satisfied with her assessment she began in earnest, palms pressing gently but with purpose into the shoulder. It was hard to tell if his body stiffened simply because of her touch or out of pain at the initial pressure.

“It will be a bit shit at first. Your shoulder is a _mess_ Caleb. But trust me, in a few minutes, it will help!”

“It’s okay, it is not so bad. Only -” he paused as the heel of her palm dug into a particularly rough spot, “I trust you.”

That had obviously not been what he was going to say, but it made her smile anyway.

She worked in silence, content to focus. It had been a bit since she had done this for someone else – in truth, most of her practice came from helping her mother, and only a few times since that she had convinced Fjord and Beau to let her tackle the occasional ache and pain. But she had always found the experience as relaxing for herself as much as the other person, practiced motions easy to fall into and glide through. 

A quick lean forward and peek around at his face a few minutes in let Jester know that still Caleb seemed to be finding little relief, eyes closed and mouth slightly pinched.

“How does it feel? Is it a bit better now? Don’t try to lie just because you don’t want to hurt my feelings or something okay?”

“It’s good. Do not worry Jester. You are very good at this.”

She huffed a little at the compliment, knowing it to be little more than a distraction from her questions. “Alright. You just look, you know, all frowny. I don’t know if you have ever had a massage before but that’s basically like, the opposite of how you are supposed to look.”

That got a small laugh. “I think that is just my face.”

“Sometimes.” She switched her grip, moving from palms to fingers to pin-point certain spots. “But maybe a bit more than normal.”

“Maybe. But it is not you, or this. Don’t worry.”

“Alright.”

She let the topic drop, deciding to trust his word for now. The only sounds filling the minutes became the quiet rumble of life from the downstairs common room, and Jester’s sporadic humming. Little by little she felt the tension recede, both from Caleb’s shoulder and his overall body language. She was about to let him know that she was almost done when he spoke up himself.

“To answer an earlier statement, I have never had a massage before. It seems I have been missing out all these many years.”

“Totally. I learned a lot of it from my mom, though you know, a lot of her massages are a little _different_.” Though he couldn’t see her Jester couldn’t help but waggle her eyebrows as her voice dropped suggestively, and Caleb chuckled at the comment, “But still, they are very healing and relaxing. _Especially_ for old injuries.”

“So I see.”

“How old is it, exactly?” She tried to keep her tone light and disinterested, her hands now idly moving around his shoulder in mindless circles and squeezes.

“Many years.” She narrowed her eyes so slightly at such a non-specific answer, knowing that his big weirdo memory could probably remember the exact day if he really wanted, but said nothing as he continued. “It was….a punishment for youthful foolishness, let us say.”

“Ooooh. Did you fall out of a tree? You know, Beau told me she fell out of a tree once. And broke her hand.”

“Somehow that does not surprise me.” His tone deadpanned for a moment, and Jester giggled, before be picked back up again, “But tell me, what about yourself? Though you had no trees to climb indoors I cannot help but guess you found more than your fair share of trouble as a child.”

“ _Pfht._ I don’t know what would make you think that.” She playfully shoved his shoulder – his other shoulder, so as not to so quickly undo her hard work – settling herself further back from him on the bed now. He seemed to guess that this meant she was done and turned to better see her. “Maybe, you know, I fell off a table or two. Or set my hair on fire one time. Or like, kind of sort of glued my hands together once. Just a little bit.”

Caleb arched an eyebrow, and Jester laughed, both at his incredulous expression and the flood of silly childhood memories that came to her.

She spent the next few minutes telling hims tales, the two of them eventually parting with Jester making Caleb pinky promise that if things started to hurt again he would come to her for help. And with Jester never thinking of his quick brush off of his own story until months later, when the past came back and she learned to truly hate the name Trent.


	4. Piggy back rides (Yasha & Caleb)

“You know, this is really - _very_ unnecessary.”

Yasha glanced back at the voice despite not being able to truly see him before setting her gaze forward again; broken only by the occasional quick gaze down at her feet to make sure the path ahead was clear of any roots or stray rocks that could unbalance her. One useless foot between them was enough.

And if a small smile was on her face from what could only be described as Caleb pouting, in his own way, it was safely hidden from his view.

She had been a bit surprised when he had asked if she would like to join him on a walk. He explained that he needed to go further into the woods to look for a few things, not bothering to elaborate further and Yasha feeling no need to press, and that there was safety in numbers. And maybe, he said, she could find something new for her book. That had made her smile too. Asking Nott would have been the easiest thing, so it was nice that he had thought of her.

“It’s alright Caleb. I don’t mind. And we don’t want you getting hurt further.” She could not help but let her voice tease a bit, and it was a testament to his embarrassment that he let his head drop down into the back of her hair. It came out muffled, but she was quite sure he was chewing her, or maybe just the universe, out in Zemnian. A slight sigh tickled the back of her neck before he seemed to compose himself and pull his head up.

“I’m sorry to be such a bother. You did not even get to properly look for any flowers.”

“Do not worry over it. They will not be going anywhere.”

“True. But still, I should have been paying closer attention, and - “

“Caleb, it’s alright.” Yasha softened her voice, no teasing this time, carefully adjusting her hold on his legs before continuing. “Do not be embarrassed about it. I will put you down a little way before camp, if you like.”

It was quiet behind her a moment, though she could feel the muscles in Caleb’s arms flex as they fidgeted around her neck. “That would be good. Thank you.”

“You are welcome.”

They continued on, and occasionally Caleb filled the silence by rambling off sort sort of nature fact. Yasha nodded along and listened, content to let him fill the silence as he liked. She understood he was not truly after conversation, just a distraction of his own making, and it didn’t bother her.

The trees began to thin and Yasha could see the empty glade the group had made their camp in not far ahead, so she lightly tapped Caleb’s thigh. “Alright. I’ll let you down easy now, keep a hold on me as best you can.”

It took careful movements to get things repositioned, Caleb now beside her with his arm around the back of her neck as best he could manage. She held him around the back and hip to offer further support. His jaw was set tight from all the jostling, but he voiced no discomfort.

“Ready?”

“No.”

Yasha laughed quietly, understanding his reluctance. He was certainly in for a ribbing over this from all of them, and Jester was no doubt going to cause the most fuss. His only hope for saving any face was if Caduceus got to him first.

“Maybe before we move on tomorrow we could try again. And maybe we could….talk? Just a bit.” She hoped the offer would soften the upcoming blow a little, and she could not deny that she wanted it as well.

Celestial spoken between them was still a rare thing, too awkward for either of them to be able to stand doing in front of the others for too long, but they had been trying to find more chances to use it. They never talked of much of consequence. Yasha felt Caleb sung the brightest when he spoke of magic, and Caleb told her he enjoyed her stories of the circus, so far removed from the way he had lived his own life. It was a strange, muddled comfort to hear someone else using this language she spent so long not understanding. 

“Sure. Maybe this time we might actually find some flowers for you. I will tell you a bit about them, if I know them.”

She smiled, starting forward slowly and tightening her grip gently as he hobbled along with her. “I’d like that.”


	5. Kisses (Fjord/Caleb)

“Are you sure you don’t mind?”

There was a time when Caleb never would have asked that question. When he would not have hesitated to spend hours at the library behind him, no matter what the rest of his traveling companions thought of it. But standing on the steps of it now with Fjord in front of him, he heard a voice in the back of his head, nagging away.

“Yeah, s’alright. You get done what you gotta get done.”

Fjord smiled, and the reassurance helped to put him a bit more at ease, but still he stayed rooted to the spot. His brain buzzed with the thought that he should be going along with them. _Wanted_ to be with them, with Fjord. And that itself was still an unfamiliar feeling, one that threw him whenever it came on too strong. With their time limited as it was however he knew his visit today was important; no matter how small this library seemed he had learned that you could never be sure of what you might find. 

It was a constant struggle, he had found, to know how to prioritizes these things, these feelings. How to balance head and heart after so many years of cutting one out completely. And the smarter part of him said that eventually one had to give, but that was not now. Now was Fjord standing here, was Fjord having walked here with his while they held hands, was Fjord who had kissed him on the cheek with a sleepy _good morning_.

Seeming to sense the lingering hesitation, Fjord took another step forward. “It _is_ alright, Caleb.” Then in one quick motion he leaned down, leaving a kiss on Caleb’s forehead. “If you don't make it back before us, I’ll come back to drag you out in a few hours.”

Caleb could feel his skin flush but he was at least used to his affections enough by now to keep his composure. After a quick clearing of his throat and a wide grin from Fjord, anyway. “Ja, okay. I will see you then. Enjoy the show. And I hope there are no undead this time.”

Fjord gave a good natured eye roll. “Don’t joke. Jester was already going on about how hilarious it would be if our second circus ended as badly as the first. Personally, I just want to enjoy some nice entertainment.” He then gestured to the library, “Good luck in there.”

Giving his shoulder a final squeeze Fjord turned, heading off to meet up with all the rest of their friends. Caleb watched him go for a time, waiting until he disappeared entirely into the crowded streets. With a smile he turned and walked into the library, ready to get to work.


	6. Stroking hair (Fjord/Caleb)

The night was unusually hot, and despite having long ago stripped down to his skivvies Fjord could feel the occasional beads of sweat that collected and dripped down along his body. The slight breeze that had been coming in through the window had since disappeared, and having it open now likely only made things worse off, but he kept hoping in vain that any minute now a cool wind would come through and offer some relief. And that aside, he had a lap full of Caleb’s head that he wasn’t ready to disturb just to close it.

That, too, likely didn’t help things, but he certainly wasn’t unhappy about it.

He opened his eyes and let his mind wander back to the present, shifting just enough to temporarily unstick his back from the pillows propped behind him and resettle himself. He could tell that his legs were already dead asleep, but that was a problem for future-Fjord. And he doubted Caleb was going to fair any better in his position. He’d been holding that book up above himself reading for what must have been near an hour now.

“Good so far?”

“Hmm...” came the trailing non-reply, and Fjord waited, knowing that eventually the rest of Caleb would catch up and answer. In the meantime, he busied himself with brushing away the now slightly damp strands of hair that clung to his forehead. The touch seemed to help rouse Caleb out of his own mind. “It does not seem to have all the information I was hoping it would, which is disappointing. But it is at least… something. 

Fjord could hear the slightest current of frustration underneath the words. This would be the third book found that ended up a dud, and an expensive one on top of it. That wouldn’t do. Forehead now cleared, he let his hand slide down along Caleb’s temple, his fingers sinking deep into the thick of his hair and rubbing gently at his scalp. Always careful not to scratch too hard. “Like they say, something’s better than nothin’.”

Caleb snorted at the cliché and rolled his eyes up, expression showing just what the thought of it. Fjord grinned down at him.

“Yes. Perhaps.” His attention drifted back to the book, though Fjord could tell he wasn’t fully reading it. “Or perhaps something is just more aggravating than nothing.”

Fjord shrugged, offering no counter argument. Instead he began to let his fingers thread slowly through Caleb’s hair, careful to not pull on any snags he found along the way. It was sweaty, and slightly greasy, but Fjord still found it pleasant as his slid against his touch. And judging from the way Caleb leaned into his hand just the slightest as he went for a second pass, followed by a third, forth, fifth, he must have felt the same.

Silence settled again and several minutes passed.

“You can’t put the book down, can you?”

“I would not say _can’t_. My arms are numb, so at this point it is simply the less painful choice to keep them up here. 

Fjord laughed. “Alright. Let me help you out then.” 

He turned his attentions from hair to arms, first plucking the book free and tossing it to the floor. That earned him a grunt of complaint, which was followed by more as he laid Caleb’s arms down and began to gently but firmly rub them. First the left, then the right, back and forth between them. Slowly the pinch of Caleb’s face settled as the pins and needles left his limbs. But Fjord continued for a bit longer, until Caleb’s eyes had drifted closed.

“Better?”

“Much. Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Fjord let his hands rest where they were on Caleb, and simply settled back to enjoy the view in front of him. Caleb and the word relaxed had become much better friends these days, but he still enjoyed seeing it every time it happened. And all the better that he could be the one to do it. But after a time it became obvious that Caleb might actually fall asleep if given the chance, and as lovely a scene as this was, it wasn’t exactly comfortable.

“C’mon then, might as well head on to sleep. You’re gonna have to return the favor with my legs though, think you’ve just about killed them.” He shimmed his hips, jostling Caleb playfully to help rouse him. 

“I can do that. If I can manage to get up, that is.” With a groan Caleb sat up, taking time to shift this way and that as he stretched his back and muttered unintelligible complaints. Fjord bit off the ‘old man’ comment that had been right on the tip of his tongue. He enjoyed the flex of shoulder and skin too much to ruin the moment.

It took many highly distracted and off task minutes to get Fjord’s legs stretched and recooperated. But once they were the pair curled up together again. Despite the heat Caleb settled right up against Fjord without a word, and Fjord wrapped an arm around him to bring him closer. There was no better way to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END! hope you enjoyed! you can find me [on tumblr](http://depmode.tumblr.com/) where it's all CR, all screaming, all the time.


End file.
